Judge dismisses lawsuit against Sony by disabled gamer
28 February 2010 16:19 by James "Dela" Delahunty

A Judge has dismissed a case brought against Sony by a disabled gamer who claimed that people with disabilities were being denied access to Sony services. The gamer, Alexander Stern, had sued Sony Corporation of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Online Entertainment because his visual processing impairments made it impossible to use video games created by Sony.

According to the complaint, "his visual processing impairments prevent him from fully enjoying the video games manufactured by Sony, some of which are played on gaming systems with internet connections through which players in different locations can communicate and play with or against one another."

The reference to "gaming systems with internet connections through which players in different locations can communicate" is essentially an argument that it qualifies as "public accommodation", which would be necessary for a discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title III.

The court ruling denied that Sony services are a "place of public accommodation" and thus, cannot be held liable then for violating ADA Title III.

"If this asshat won his case, the Next thing you know, you would have deaf people suing rock bands because they can't enjoy the music like everyone else can. He's probably not even disabled, the government just say's he's disabled because he falls under thier "criteria" and "definition" of disabled. It's just like these jerks who have the handicap tag on thier car and i sit there and watch them hop right out the door and walk just fine across the parking lot while i see somebody in a wheel chair have to park 15 spaces back from the front door because the spot is taken by someone else who's "Handicapped". F'n Loser's "